Wahid Majroh, deputy minister of public health, announced on Monday that in the past 24 hours 285 positive cases of COVID-19 had been reported in Afghanistan, bringing the total to 4,687.

Nationwide, two people died of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours--in Kandahar and Nangarhar province-- and 16 others have recovered, said Majroh, adding: “A limited number of patients have been admitted to the isolation center at Darulaman Palace for various reasons, including security issues.”

The new cases have been reported in Kabul (161), Kandahar (30), Badghis (18), Logar (18), Nangarhar (16), Kunar (16), Herat (7), Kunduz (5), Ghor (5), Parwan (3), Helmand (3), Nuristan (2) and Wardak (1).

Kabul is still one of the worst hotspots for COVID-19-- in the past 24 hours out of 365 cases 161 were positive, said Majroh, adding that 709 people have been tested in the past 24 hours.

The coronavirus is not going to end very soon," said Majroh, "we need to adapt to life with the coronavirus and observe health guidelines."

Majroh says the threat of COVID-19 is still high and there is a need for people to act responsibly and take the lockdown seriously. He calls on the people to stay at home.

So far 122 people are known to have died of the coronavirus in the country.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 globally is more than 282,728, and 4,103,241 have been infected with the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University.